The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1997

 

The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, has awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 1997 to Stanley B. Prusiner, for his discovery of “prions – a new biological principle of infection”.
Stanley B. Prusiner was born in 1942 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. Since 1968 he has been a professor in neurology, biochemistry, and virology at the University of California in San Francisco, and in Berkeley.

To cite this section
MLA style: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1997. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach 2025. Fri. 5 Dec 2025. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1997/7834-the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine-1997/>

Go to the top of the page

Nobel Prizes and laureates

Nobel Prizes 2025

Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 14 laureates' work and discoveries range from quantum tunnelling to promoting democratic rights.

See them all presented here.

Illustration

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.